Only For Those Who Turn To The Lord

The debate rages on at Tentmaker. It has moved to another thread called Positions on God-ordained Old Testament "slaughter" but it is still pretty much the same debate. Someone started a poll with the following four choices...

What is your position on the multitude of texts that speak of God directing or commanding brutal atrocities?

It was commanded as Spiritual "destruction" and was carried out as such (no literal killing)
0 (0%)

It was commanded as Spiritual "destruction" but was misperceived by the Israelites and carried out literally
1 (7.1%)

The "command" itself was a misperception, and thus the literal acts that followed were never commanded or ordained by God
3 (21.4%)

The commands were for literal human slaughter, genocide, infanticide, etc...
7 (50%)

1,2 or 3
3 (21.4%)

Total Voters: 14

So you can see that it is a tie....between those who think literal slaughter was commanded and those who don't. I came upon a verse in 2 Corinthians the other day...in a post on another forum that was not related to the OT stuff at all...but rather about the veil on people's hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:12 This wonderful hope makes us feel like speaking freely. 13 We are not like Moses. His face was shining, but he covered it to keep the people of Israel from seeing the brightness fade away. 14 The people were stubborn, and something still keeps them from seeing the truth when the Law is read. Only Christ can take away the covering that keeps them from seeing. 15 When the Law of Moses is read, they have their minds covered over 16 with a covering that is removed only for those who turn to the Lord. 17 The Lord and the Spirit are one and the same, and the Lord's Spirit sets us free. CEV

I took note in this passage of scripture that it says the covering is removed only for those who turn to the Lord and that only Christ can take away the covering that keeps them from seeing the truth. It does not say that a literal interpretation of the Old Testament events removes the veil. It doesn't say that understanding the "types and shadows" that some point to as the reason for the atrocities takes away the veil.

A few years ago, on the Tentmaker forum, someone said the following and it has stuck with me every since then....

You can read it in the Greek. You can read it in the King James, the NIV or the Concordant Literal but unless you read it with the spirit, you'll never hear Abba speak.

The verses in Corinthians tell us that the Lord's spirit sets us free. Free from what? Free from a literal interpretation of the OT? Free from trying our darndest to somehow reconcile the god who supposedly ordered the atrocities in the OT with the God we see represented in Jesus? The Amplified says:

16 But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away.

What is it that we need to repent of? That is the $100,000 question.